Eve's Bayou

Trimark; rental pricing

Feature; R

Director:

Kasi Lemmons

Cast:

Jurnee Smollett, Lynn Whitfield, Samuel L. Jackson and Debbi Morgan

First-time director Lemmons opens boldly and never flinches from her straightforward storytelling about a well-to-do black family ripped apart by jealousy, adultery and voodoo. Set in the Louisiana sticks, the film features top-notch performances by Smollett as young Eve, and Jackson as her tomcatting father. Wrongly overlooked at Oscar time, the film stands out as one of last year's most powerful sleeper hits.